Bacteriophage T4 baseplate components. I. Binding and location of the folic acid.

Two different proteins with high affinities for the pteridine ring of folic acid have been used to determine the location of this portion of the folate molecule in the tail plate of T4D and other T-even bacteriophage particles. The two proteins used were (i) antibody specific for folic acid and (ii) the folate-binding protein from bovine milk. Both proteins were examined for their effect on various intact and incomplete phage particles. Intact T2H was weakly inactivated by the antiserum but not by the milk protein. No other intact T-even phage, including T4D, was affected by these two proteins. When incomplete T4D particles were exposed in an in vitro morphogenesis system, it was found that neither of the two proteins affected either the addition of the long tail fibers to fiberless particles or the addition of tail cores to tail plates. On the other hand, these two proteins specifically blocked the addition of T4D gene 11 product to the bottom of T4D baseplates. After the addition of the gene 11 protein, these two reagents did not inhibit the further addition of the gene 12 protein to the baseplate. It can be concluded that the phage folic acid is a tightly bound baseplate constituent and that the pteridine portion of the folic acid is largely covered by the gene 11 protein.